Victorian Spitfire
by Raina2000
Summary: A Victorian AU Young Justice Fic where Artemis and Wally are being forced into an arranged marriage. What are their fathers reasoning? What can they do to stop it? A little exploration of the characters in my first young justice fic! Inspired by spitfire fanart by murrmernator on Tumblr! (Link to art in chapters)


Link to the amazing art that inspired all of this:

murrmernator . tumblr post/47046201340/classy-people-i-was-gonna-draw-them-as

Thank you to merrmernator on Tumblr for letting me write about your wonderful artwork! (The specific image will be a scene much later in the story!)

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"Dad, you have _got_ to be joking! Please!" Artemis had her small callused fingers gripped tightly on her father's coat lapels. He chuckled and pried her fingers away from his jacket.

"Sorry, Baby girl, business is business." He dropped her hands and left the room with Mr. West, starting up an animated conversation of cigars as though he hadn't just condemned his daughter – or, at least that's how it felt to Artemis. She willed tears back as she stood exactly where her father had left her, practically _abandoned_ her, to let her mingle with this idiotic excuse for a –

A loud sound permeated her enraged mind and she shot the younger West man a deadly glare upon realizing the sound came from Wallace clearing his throat. He put his hands up in a melancholic defense, "Don't give me that look, Crock, I'm with you on this matter." He put his hands down when he realized her eyes were watering.

He moved so quickly she hadn't even noticed that he'd left his seat by the window until he was moving in to wipe unwanted tears from her cheeks. Artemis quickly swatted his hand before he could touch her and turned her face away from him, wiping the tears with her own hands while blatantly ignoring the handkerchief he was somehow already holding out towards her. "I know we aren't each other's first choice, but it could be worse." He let a smile grace his handsome features, but it lasted only a moment as Artemis scoffed and looked back into his eyes; her own filled with unfiltered distain.

"_It could_?" Looking into his eyes was a mistake, they were a terribly beautiful shade of green and - despite her hatred for this man when he spoke – they held a kindness not found in many of the men she'd been acquainted with in her 20 years of life (although, to be fair, that probably has a great deal to do with the specific brand of men she'd met within her father's employ). His eyes – much to her dismay – were not any less enchanting when narrowed into a glare. In fact, the young blonde had found much joy over the last three months of their acquaintance bringing out the more serious side of this puerile man.

"Artemis?!" A young woman's voice that echoed from down the hall pulled the two out of their unspoken glaring contest.

"Zatanna, is that you?! We're in the sun room!" Artemis said loudly as she turned; facing the door expectantly; and Wally found himself wondering what the intricately styled mass of hair on her head would look like when it was un-styled. It wasn't exactly considered proper to have one's hair down once they became a marriageable age – something Wally found profoundly idiotic especially with how soft the obnoxious young woman's hair looked today.

Zatanna entered in her usual dark ensemble, having claimed the dark amethyst color as her signature over ten years ago; the current societal expectations of summer attire to be damned as she'd had all of her white linen dresses either dyed or remade in the shade. However, traditional and proper things didn't matter nearly as much in their circles, although that could, Wally supposed, be a testament to their youth more than anything as the adults still clearly thought of it as a bit brash, even if they'd long since learned to hold their tongues; all of them still undecided if they were more frightened by an angry Zatanna or her over-protective father. Wally emerged from his sea of thoughts when he noticed that Zatanna was dragging the young Dick Grayson behind her.

"You know the maid always insists on showing you in so that you _don't_ have to walk around the estate yelling for me?"

"Oh come on Arty, what's the fun in th- oh my god. The second part of this 'we' is Wallace West? And you two are alone without bloodshed? How has this miracle come to be?" Zatanna was the only person in the room smiling, a look that soon fell from her face as she glanced around the room and felt the tension in the air settle upon her. "What am I missing?"

Dick pulled his arm from hers and stepped towards the pair in front of him, looking past Artemis to his oldest friend. He watched in slight horror as Wally's jaw and hands clenched painfully. He liked Artemis just fine – and was more than a little sure that the two were far more suited for each other than most could see, but that didn't change the fact that his friend was adamant in ignoring his attraction to the young spitfire. Dick Grayson just didn't believe in arranged marriages – which absolutely, one hundred percent, in no way, shape, or form, had _anything_ to do with the fact that he was in love with his dear Zatanna while his 'father' got a bit too comfortable with the idea of incorporating the Gordon's into the family and securing their – currently less than stable – business together. "Well, West, did you get out of it?" Dick was fairly certain he already knew the answer.

"I'm afraid our fathers were rather set on the idea." Wally turned towards the window and Dick met Artemis with a concerned look, soon interrupted as his girlfriend pulled Artemis' attention with her hands softly laid over the blonde's.

"Art, what _exactly_ is going on here?" She watched her best friend fight the tears of frustration threatening to spill over in shock – she'd never seen Artemis cry.

"Our fathers are forcing us to – God – I can't say it, Zee, it makes me _ill_." Zatanna glanced between her three distraught friends when Wally dropped the bomb on her.

"Our fathers are forcing _us_ to _marry_." Zatanna let out a soft gasp and wrapped Artemis in a hug. Artemis hadn't cried when her father had 'accidentally' shot an arrow clean through her hand (leaving her stuck to a tree), while Zatanna observed her train – but she was crying over _this_. It occurred to Zatanna then that she and Dick might have been wrong about the underlying attraction between the new and bitter couple.

"At least you can take comfort in that it could be worse." Was mumbled softly into Artemis' hair.

"Everyone keeps saying that, Zee. It doesn't make it true." Zatanna laughs, pulling herself an arm's length away from her friend.

"Oh _please_, dear Art! You know your father deals with a large smattering of foreign powers! What if it'd been you that had been arranged with Simon instead of Devon Station!" Zatanna looked to Wally as Artemis reluctantly (although mentally) conceded that she had a point. "And _you –_" Zatanna gestured towards Wally, "– are only in this situation because you refused your previous engagement to Linda Park!" Dick let out a laugh that could only be described as pure child-like amusement – Something that hadn't faded into his life's history despite the fact he was now due to turn eighteen in a couple short months.

The new couple locked eyes for a moment and they seemed, in the eyes of Dick and Zatanna, to make a silent pack not to kill each other or their fathers over this.

Dick personally couldn't wait to see how this all played out.

"I don't like this." Wally huffed.

"As if I do!" Artemis scoffed at him "Do you really think I want to spend my life with you? _Touch you_? Have _children_ with _you_?!" The weight of what was expected of Artemis and Wally settled on the small group of young people, breaking the short moment of levity Dick and Zatanna had created. "The thought of being your wife makes me sick, Wallace." Hot, panicked tears slid down Artemis' cheeks and Wally fought back his own using the last shreds of his pride to keep them from falling.

"At least you'll be married into a family of reputable substance! I may have only known you but a few months, and my father may be fooled by your family's falsities; but I can see that your family is anything but normal! You've not been trained as a proper lady so I'll have to teach it all to you so that my mother doesn't disown us from her inevitable embarrassment! You're father's raised you and your sister as sons and it shows in your actions! Just look at what she did to Roy! What's his life now? Ostracized for fraternizing and wedding himself to a tainted –" Wally's words died in his throat as Artemis' fist connected with his jaw, a cheese knife taken from the platter and held threateningly against his throat as she pinned him against the back of the sofa he'd been on and off of his entire visit.

"If you _ever_ dare to finish that sentence I will not hesitate to end you." She was shaking, she looked vulnerable and hurt even in her tactically perfect attack on her new fiancé and Dick and Zatanna could do little else but stand in shock at what was unfolding before them.

"How – what the hell_ are you_?" Wally sat up as Artemis dropped the knife back to the platter and ran from the room, her skirts doing little to slow her down.

"Artemis!" Zatanna give Dick's hand a squeeze before lifting her skirts and running after her friend. Wally sat staring at the dull knife sitting on the table. Dick sat down next to the admittedly scared red-head, clapping him on the shoulder and checking out the window to make sure that Mr. Crock was still busy wandering the gardens with Wally's father.

"I think you should know a bit about Artemis' upbringing; I don't know everything, but Zee has told me enough." Wally looked at Richard with eyes pleading for an explanation that made some kind of sense.

"Is she human?" Wally asked dumbly, rubbing his temples as though he'd find sense there.

"Of course"

"How did she do that? I mean to tackle a man in general, let alone myself! I'm usually so quick on the draw. I suppose I underestimated her."

"Your _first_ mistake was underestimating a _woman_. The _second_ was underestimating her, although that's actually the less egregious mistake. Her father _does_ actually strategize for the military –" Richard glanced out the window once again, "- but he prefers to wage wars at his advantage, so he tends to lend strategy and training to groups more outside the law as well. He never did manage to have any sons before his wife's accident – but they were both determined to have their daughter be able to take over and protect themselves. His training only became more strict and ruthless after a job went wrong and his wife ended up well – immobile. She left with Jade and Roy after she got out of the hospital to get away from this place. At least, that's what Zatanna tells me."

"And Artemis?"

"Was stuck here by societal mandates and a fear of being alone… Zatanna says her mom would take her back if she could, but if Artemis stays here she keeps her father's attention away from the others. Not to mention that she's never really gotten along with Roy or her sister. Her father may be cruel and a bit heartless, but he's really all she has left at this point. If you two can learn to get along at all, maybe get your own place away from here… it might be good for her."

There was a lot to take in, a lot to process, but Wally was sure his family would either never believe it or already knew and didn't care, the latter quite obviously terrifying him more, although he thought it the less likely of the two. And then a sickly tingle of the unknown started to claw its way up his spine with a realization. "Why on earth would her father want her to marry me then?" He watched Dick's face remain in the same expression it'd been in since Zatanna had fled the room. Some would see it as a look of uninterest or indifference, but Wally had known Dick long enough to see all the thoughts racing chaotically under the surface.

"You know, I've been trying to figure that out since you told me of this yesterday."

"And?" Wally looked at his friend hopefully for any small breadcrumb he could provide and his stomach dropped when Dick looked at him and shrugged.

"I honestly haven't the slightest clue." He faced the window again and Wally realized he was studying his own father and Artemis', "But I'm going to figure it out, Wally." Dick smiled mischievously at the prospect of this new challenge. "Even if it kills me."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that!" Wally laughed nervously.

Dick simply smirked, bringing his knees to his chest and biting down on his thumb with a smirk, "I've got to give the history books something to work with."

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I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I don't know when I'll update next but I have a bunch of really fun ideas!

Please review and let me know what you all think! 3

\- Raina


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